Photo: HEP Group
Hrvatska elektroprivreda – HEP Group will use the largest grant it received so far from European Union funds, EUR 55.8 million, to reconstruct 68.5 kilometers of the district heating network in Zagreb.
Croatia signed the deal for its 14th strategic project financed by European Union funds. HEP Toplinarstvo, the district heating network division of state-owned energy utility Hrvatska elektroprivreda or HEP Group, earmarked EUR 92.6 million for the revitalization of 68.5 kilometers of hot water network in the capital city.
Costs for the endeavor in Zagreb are therefore EUR 73.5 million excluding value-added tax, of which EUR 55.8 million will be covered from a grant from the European Regional Development Fund under operational program Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020. HEP noted it is the biggest sum received from EU funds so far.
Strategic projects worth over EUR 2.1 billion so far
The remainder of the expenses will be covered from its own sources, the company added. The agreement was signed by Minister of Regional Development and European Union Funds Nataša Tramišak, Director of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU) Tomislav Petrić, and Director of HEP Toplinarstvo Zdravko Zajec.
The revitalization of almost one third of HEP Toplinarstvo’s district heating network in Zagreb is valued at EUR 92.6 million
All the said projects will be finished through 2023, the minister stressed. She said they are worth more than EUR 2.1 billion in total and that another one would be launched soon.
Trenchless preinsulated pipes to replace steel lines
The agreed revitalization of almost one-third of the district heating network will improve supply, according to Tramišak. HEP Toplinarstvo has more than 100,000 household users in Zagreb.
HEP Group got nearly EUR 132 million from the EU in the past three years, said President of the Management Board of HEP Group Frane Barbarić.
The company said it would lay trenchless preinsulated pipes, replacing the steel pipes in trenches that had a higher risk of leakages and were exposed to corrosion. The reduction of heat losses is estimated at 28%, HEP said and underscored that process water refill losses would be cut by 47%. It calculated that the number of emergency interventions would decrease by 90%.
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